The Philippine Aquatics Inc. (PAI) is pinning its hopes on Kayla Sanchez as it looks to end the country’s 28-year medal drought in the Asian Games.

PAI secretary general Eric Buhain said the 25-year-old tanker, who represented Canada in the Tokyo Olympics, has been training and competing in North American in preparation for her second appearance in the prestigious continental meet that will be held at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre from 20 to 26 August.

Sanchez will lead a six-member delegation that includes Southeast Asian Games gold medalists Xiandi Chua and Teia Salvino, SEA Games silver medalists Logan Noguchi and Heather White, and SEA Games bronze medalist Gian Santos.

“She flies between Canada and the US. She’s mostly on the West Coast, and her opponents are good. She’s focused and really dedicated,” said Buhain, a decorated swimmer during his competitive career before becoming the chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission from 2002 to 2005 and the congressman of the First District of Batangas in 2022.

“Kayla is a treasure to behold. I wish more swimmers could see her actually in action.”

It will be a nostalgic return for Sanchez, as it was the same venue where she won silver and bronze medals for Canada in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

After transferring her nationality from Canada to the Philippines in 2022, Sanchez made her Asian Games debut in Hangzhou in 2023.

But she fell short, finishing fifth with a record-breaking 54.69 seconds in her pet event — the women’s 100-meter freestyle to continue the country’s medal drought in the swimming competition of the Asian Games.

The last time a Filipino swimmer stepped on the Asian Games medal podium was in 1998 when Raymond Papa clinched two bronze medals in the men’s 100-meter backstroke and 200m backstroke in Bangkok.

William Wilson was the last Filipino to win a gold medal in swimming at the Asiad after conquering the men’s 200m freestyle event in 1982 in New Delhi.

Buhain said their goal is for all their swimmers to reach the finals of their respective events and see how far they can go from there.

“Our level here is the finals. That’s our target for all the swimmers,” said Buhain, who knows the level of competition in the Asian Games after representing the country in the Seoul edition in 1988.

“This is the Asian Games. It’s not something that you just experience. This is for the country. The level of performance that we expect is to finish in the top eight.” I. SUING